Thanks to Thierry Cauvin for the following update:
I just take a look at your website. It is a very good containing a
lot of info about AJ. I am especially a comics fan and I take a quick look
to the comics you have listed. I am aware that most of them are certainly no
translated in English or difficult to find. So I just would like to give you
a short update about Jodo's productions.
* The Metabarons (la caste des Metabarons), with Gimenez: based on the
story of the ancestors of the famous character from the Incal. This comics
is now published in the US as far as I know.
* Les Technoperes (Technofathers) with Janjetov and Beltran: this is a
new series (also in the world of the Incal, since we talk about Techno's)
telling the story of Albino who wants to create videogames while the rest of
his family is fighting against intergalactic pirates. The colors of this
comics are made using computer technology.
* Megalex, with Beltran: just one episode released at this time. This
is about a planet, Megalex, totally devoted to technology and science.
Everything is covered with steel, concrete... except one small part of the
planet still covered by the Forest who resists. Well, Fred Beltran realizes
all drawings using computer technology, which provide a incredible graphical
result.
* Face de Lune (Moon Face) with Boucq: The Damanuestra island is ruled
by a dictator: Oscar Lkazlo the Kondukator. At thesame time, the "men in
red" are preaching a new religion of intolerance and no respect of humanity.
Tremendous waves are submerging the island without any possiblility to
prevent them. Moon Face, a mute only talking with his hands, seems to
control the waves.
* Le tresor de l'ombre (The treasure of the Shadow) with Boucq: just
small ironical poems illustrated by Boucq
* Juan Solo,with Bess: I never read it, I don't know anything about it
* Aliot, with de la Fuente: just to be complete, this serie was
stopped after the first episode because of problems with the publisher
* After the Incal, with Moebius: still to come (this fall), the sequel
to the mythic Incal
* One-Arm bouncer, with Boucq: still to come (this fall), This is a
western, that's all I know
This list is certainly not complete and I apologise for the English
which is certainly not perfect.I hope this will help you: link to
http://fr.casterman.be/catalogue/albums_auteur.asp?auteur=JODOROWSKY and
http://www.humano.com for more info.
COMICS
Alef-Thau (Artist: Arno)
This is a fantasy about a guy who was born without arms or legs. He
spends the entire series gaining his missing appendages whilst defending
a princess character from the evil bad guy. A cool twist thrown in is
that in actual fact only the princess and bad guy exist and everyone else
are just illusions. To be honest, not really one of AJ's best.
Young John Difool (Artist: Zoran Janjetov)
It may not be as deep as The Incal but it's got a lot more of the wild
and crazy ideas that drew me to AJ in the first place than in the other
comics. After discovering a police robot in a trashheap, John Difool embarks on his
first case. He has to find out what the prostitutes in the red light
district do with their babies. This is something dear to his heart since
he escaped their mysterious fate by being hidden away most of his childhood.
This leads him to the secret of the halo bearing aristos on the first level.
The Passion of Diosamante (Artist: Jean-Claude(?) Gal)
This is a very existential tale which makes it a lot less accessible. I
had to read it a couple times to get into it. The art is very beautiful
as well. Basically, there's this queen who has everything she ever
wanted but is completely unsatisfied. She ends up forsaking her whole
kingdom to go on a spiritual quest.
The Saga of Alandor (Artist: Silvio Cadelo)
The coolest idea AJ has ever come up with: IMO, the "main-peche". I'm
not sure how to translate it. It's something like "sinful hand". It's
this disease where hands grow out of your body. Being contagious, anyone
with the disease is banished to live with others of the same kind. This is
what happens to the hero Alandor. He eventually becomes the leader of
a gang he ends up with who just pillage and plunder all over. Soon
enough Alandor runs into these "Saint-Knights" whose responsibility it
was to keep this being of utter evil bottled up. They enlist Alandor to
help recover the "bottle" which was stolen from them. The very alien
creatures of Cadelo's really help to make this my second favourite AJ comic.
Anibal Cinq (Artist: Georges Bess)
This is a completely no-holds-barred sexual parody. Anibal Cinq is an
oversexed cyborg who reluctantly is sent on missions against some evil
terrorist organization. I love the nod to Herge with the scientist
characters Martin and Martain.
The White Lama (Artist: Georges Bess)
My favourite AJ comic is of the kung fu genre but goes way beyond
anything those movies ever did. I suppose it's the same as with El Topo and
westerns. The wise old leader of a temple has a dream with evil
foreboding and decides he must die and come back so he'll have a youthful
body to combat this evil. It turns out there's a mixup and the bad guy's
son is recognized as the wise old leader. Two of the monks are not so
easily fooled though, and the real saviour comes through.
The Eyes of the Cat (Artist: Moebius)
Pretty neat concept with the eyeless child's POV on page and his bird
sent for title's eyes on the other. This is the story that introduced me to
AJ. Essential for any follower.
The Incal (Artist: Moebius)
This is the story for the Dune movie in disguise. It's the most
ambitious and epic of AJ's comics. The one part which I think is really
neat is where we see the impregnation of a human egg on a much grander
scale with the male "sperm" literally slaughtering each other to get to
the prize.
The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (Artist: Moebius)
It's kind of interesting that AJ wants to make this into a movie. A
student gets it into her head that she is to give birth to the
reincarnation of John the Baptist and her professor is to be the father.
I wasn't that impressed by this one.
BOOKS
The Parrots' Paradise
Pretty funny road movie kind of tale with the kind of wild characters and
ideas that we've come to expect from AJ.
Enquete Sur Un Chemin de Terre
They compare this to Fellini on the back cover. It certainly is episodic.
The setting is a kind of 1984 thing where everyone has a tv with a face
on it spouting propaganda. These three guys dressed in black run into
person after person who mistake them for angels, detectives, you name
it. The book is basically a compilation of monologues of the people
these guys meet. This format I didn't really enjoy that much but the
book is still kind of interesting.
contributed by Conrad Ottay
